PATTAYA — The night at a Pattaya agogo bar was in turmoil for a while when a Japanese man argued with his girlfriend who worked at the bar, causing vast damage, leading to his capture by residents. He tried to escape by car but was eventually caught and beaten by a group of people, leaving him injured. Anyway he apologised for his action.
He sustained injuries to his face and body and was given first aid by rescue personnel before being taken to the hospital.
On July 11, Pattaya police officers took Mr. Yoshiyuki, 60, for a drug test, and he remains in the hospital, unable to provide any information. Meanwhile, the incident’s victims have been filing reports about the damages caused by his actions.
Somporn Srithong, 27, a security guard at the entertainment venue where the incident occurred, said that the Japanese man had a problem with his girlfriend, who was an employee at the bar. He then drove his car into the front of the bar, reversing and ramming it three times, causing property damage. He then fled, hitting cars of passing locals and those parked on the side of the road.
“My colleagues and I tried to chase after him, but he wouldn’t stop and attempted to hit us with his car repeatedly. Luckily, I managed to jump out of the way, but I still got injured with 6 stitches on my finger and scrapes on my body. My co-workers were also injured,” Somporn said.
He recounted that when the Japanese man’s car was about to lose control and hit the back of a tour bus, rendering it unable to continue, he quickly went to grab the keys and pulled the man out of the car. The Japanese man could only apologize. Somporn thought that this man didn’t seem drunk but might have been under the influence of drugs. He considered it fortunate that no one was seriously injured or killed in this incident.
Ms. Jaruda Thatchanda, 43, an employee at a shop across from where the incident occurred, described the moment the foreigner rammed his car. She said the foreigner turned his car around three times before accelerating towards the bar where his girlfriend worked.
At that time, she was afraid the Japanese man would crash into her shop, so they tried to move cars out of the way but couldn’t in time and had to run for safety. At that moment, they attempted to throw liquor bottles at him to stop him.
“Before the incident, the Japanese man was arguing with his girlfriend who worked in the agogo bar. The man threatened to ram his car into the bar, which the people in the bar didn’t think he would actually do, so they challenged him to do it if he dared. This provoked him to carry out his threat,” Jaruda said.
Additionally, members of the public recorded the incident. The first clip shows the moment when the Japanese man drove a white sedan into the railing of the agogo bar, then reversed into a songthaew (local public transport), before driving away.
Another clip shows a group of men surrounding the foreigner’s car, throwing rocks and tree branches at it, causing the foreigner to quickly drive away again. The person who recorded the clips has handed them over to the police as evidence.
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